As we write this, we’re preparing to start drilling at our next borehole site—Lositeti. Our fundraising campaign for this project took place last summer. Drilling a borehole that will help a community long-term is not a simple process, though. As we look forward to Lositeti, let’s look back on past Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects to talk about the methods, timeframe, and costs of building durable boreholes.

It Takes (More Than) a Village

Many people in and around Kajiado County, Kenya, know about the work we at Water is Life Kenya (WILK) have done over the last seventeen years. That’s what prompted Michael Lankoi, a teacher from Lositeti, to travel 40 miles to Nooriro where we were drilling a borehole this past summer. The people in Lositeti had been suffering because of the three-year-long drought, and he asked us to help them.

We receive many requests for help. Therefore, after building a relationship with a community, we travel to the ground to conduct a needs assessment. This helps us determine what kind of help, if any, is needed. Is water available nearby? Are people committed to running and maintaining a borehole? Will the community benefit from a borehole project? These are just some of the questions we answer before getting our team-—and our donors—more involved.

Lositeti checked all of those boxes. Shallow wells had dried up, a nearby dam was empty, and livestock had been wiped out. The community welcomed us and was eager to envision what their new life would look like. Following the needs assessment, we completed a hydrogeological survey, mobilized community leadership and organizations, and guided them as they filed for drilling permits. It was only then that we asked our donors to help fund the project.

Between a grant from The Raskob Foundation, contributions from ten Rotary clubs across District 7630, and individual donations, we raised over $80,000 to fund this community borehole for Lositeti. That might seem like a lot of money—and it is—but we don’t just dig a hole and leave. This is why our projects have been so successful for so long.

Our Borehole Process

Our work in Nooriro is just one of the 27 clean water projects we’ve completed in Kajiado County. From the initial assessment to the opening ceremony, it takes about a year to complete a project. It’s time to answer how much our water wells cost in Kenya.

The needs assessment, community mobilization, and hydrogeological survey steps we mentioned, along with training a Water Management Committee (WMC) that will oversee the project on a daily basis, can cost around $5,000-$15,000. In Kenya, water resources are owned by the state, so applications and permits are required before drilling can even begin. Drilling the borehole and a 24-hour test pumping come next and cost around $15,000-$25,000, but this is not even the most expensive step.

Following drilling and test pumping comes the most critical step in our region—construction. Because of nearby elephants who love fresh, clean borehole water (see our blog post about elephants to learn more), borehole infrastructure must be made out of reinforced concrete. Local contractors are hired to build a pump house, water point, troughs for animals, water storage, and latrines. The community pays for some of this construction as a “buy-in,” while the rest (between $20,000-$30,000) is funded by WILK. Following construction, a water pump and generator are purchased and installed. Because our wells are deep (up to 300 meters), the pump and generator installation can cost between $15,000-$20,000.

Once these projects are established, our team monitors them quarterly during the first year and conducts questionnaires and other data collection. We are on standby to help resolve conflicts and troubleshoot solutions with WMCs.

Past Borehole Success Stories

The Ilkisonko borehole can show how much work goes into our projects. After drilling, we conducted test pumping, constructed necessary infrastructure, equipped a generator and pump, and trained a well management team. Therefore, our comprehensive projects have a larger cost than other smaller ones that are dug in Kenya. (The global success rate of water wells is 30-50% after two to five years. Our projects are far more sustainable, with a success rate of about 85% and some wells running for over 15 years).

One of our early projects (2012) in Olepolos is still running—and supporting two schools in addition to the community. Because the community was involved throughout the process, the borehole fits its needs. Now people have been moving to Olepolos for its water security. There are also farms, shops, and a restaurant, all of which support the economy. This means the people in Olepolos can manage the borehole as well as afford to keep it running.

We Have More Work to Do

Our first borehole in 2024 will be in Lositeti, but we’re reading through applications and surveying areas for additional borehole projects. There are so many people in Kajiado County who still suffer from the aftereffects of the three-year drought. We want to help as many as we can, but we also will continue to follow the plan we’ve been using successfully for the last seventeen years.

With all of our projects, we do our best to ensure borehole longevity. Not only does that mean boreholes are made to withstand the elements (and the elephants), but they also need to stay funded to keep running. If we want these communities to prosper, we have to help them beyond building a well.

So, how much do water wells cost in Kenya? Our community borehole wells cost about $80,000 – $100,000. And what about the benefit? The reality is that communities of up to 5,000 people (and their animals) have water for decades because of our projects. Considering some cars cost $80,000, you tell us: How much does clean water for communities cost?

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You Gotta Have Friends

For a long time, Nooriro residents weren’t able to live on their land. Instead, they were forced to squat a ten-hour walk away near the only available water. After assessing the situation, we decided to dig a borehole so they’d have access to water in Nooriro and, therefore, could come home again. As we’ve discussed before, there are many steps that precede drilling in order to ensure that the well will continue to run after it’s been installed. Once a hydrogeological survey team determined that enough water was available underground, we developed a plan for the borehole

Before drilling could begin, we had to raise money. That’s when our friend Paul from the Lions Club of Pike Creek, along with the Lions Club of Nairobi Greater and the Lions Club International Foundation pulled their resources to pay for digging the well. Without the Lions’ generosity, it would’ve taken much longer to save for all of the expenses needed to drill the borehole.

Paul was on hand in February for the early drilling in Nooriro, but it wasn’t until we’d drilled almost 240 meters that we tapped into the aquifer. After we tested the water, we began building the infrastructure that would allow the people in Nooriro to utilize it. None of this would have been possible without our partnership with the Lions and their commitment to serving others.

Opening Day in Nooriro

A couple weeks ago, the last of the construction was finished. The pump house, water tank, and latrines were installed, the water pump and generator were added, and everything was hooked up to the energy grid. Finally we could celebrate the arrival of fresh, clean water to the people in Nooriro.

During the ceremony, everyone sang and danced with joy. The Lions then distributed enough food for 300 Nooriro families—approximately 2,100 people—to last for a month. They, too, were given gifts to thank them for their generosity. More importantly, the lives of this community were changed for the better.

Love In Action

The Nooriro borehole has given hope to people who, until recently, had none. With the opening of the new well, people have begun moving back home. Many are talking about how their lives will change for good. They have plans to build a school, and maybe even a health clinic.

We’ve spent sixteen years setting almost thirty groups of people up for success. The people in Nooriro have benefitted from the support of many people, but so many more Maasai face similar difficulties. We hope this same generosity will be given to future projects that we have planned.

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The human-elephant conflict arises in our work because elephants love fresh, cold borehole water, freshly grown crops, and new toys (such as plastic water tanks). Therefore, elephants are critical in our project design, development, and implementation. Here, we’ll explain how these majestic creatures impact our projects.

Humans & Elephants — Friends or Foes?

It’s said that elephants were the original road-makers. Over the past 6 million years, these animals busted their way out of the deeply-forested jungles of central Africa, knocking down everything in their path. Some elephants remained in the open grasslands while others kept going into new territories. The paths forged by these massive animals allowed other species, like early humans, to travel out of Africa and into the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

Elephants led the way. We followed—at a healthy distance.

It turns out that elephants and humans have many of the same needs, the most critical of which is water. Elephants can smell water up to 12 miles away, making them exceptional guides towards this life-sustaining resource.

However, when humans began growing food and transitioning from hunter-gathers to farmers, the human-elephant conflict intensified. Being herbivores, elephants are always eager to splurge on an open field of freshly grown crops. Farmers were forced into a compromising choice—do I kill this elephant or feed my family? This age-old conflict is still present everywhere humans and elephants coexist, and Kenya’s no exception.

The desire for elephant tusks further threatened the species. After ivory harvesting was outlawed, poaching grew rapidly. A global effort to save elephants began, and conservation organizations were formed to protect these precious animals. In our area, the Kenya Wildlife Service, Amboseli Ecosystem Trust, Save the Elephants, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and World Wildlife Fund all safeguard elephants and their livelihoods. But conflicts—and ways of preventing them—persist, as necessary considerations for Maasai communities and those who help them develop.

Elephants and Agriculture

Elephants raid crop fields, destroy expensive fences, and break into storehouses where harvests are kept. All of this increases conflict and creates risky environments for communities. Farming with elephants nearby is nearly impossible, which is why we don’t use community boreholes to water crops.

There are several emerging solutions to this problem. In partnership with an outside organization, the communities around Imisygio and Imurtot constructed an electric fence around their farmlands. It’s mostly worked, though a hungry elephant can breach almost any fence. The downsides are that the fence only surrounds a small region, was very expensive to install, requires constant outside investment to maintain, and doesn’t eliminate conflict.

Another series of solutions has promise, but currently it’s not scalable. Save the Elephants has shown that putting beehives around the perimeter of a farm is a strong deterrent; however, this too requires constant upkeep and a healthy environment for bees, something not guaranteed in southern Kenya. Another idea is planting hot peppers around the perimeter—elephants don’t like spicy smells. Again, it’s hard to deter a hungry elephant.

The safest way to prevent elephants from destroying a farm is to not have a farm. This is a reason why many Maasai keep livestock. Go figure, elephants just don’t find cattle all that interesting.

Borehole Infrastructure

The cost of a community borehole is $80,000 – $100,000. This is a great investment on behalf of our community of givers as well as the community receiving the well, as we require some form of buy-in on their part. But why are our water projects so expensive compared to other clean water organizations’ projects?

There are two main reasons:

1. The water table in this area is deep, with some of our projects reaching 300 meters during drilling. Pulling water up from so far beneath the surface requires a strong pump, generator, and infrastructure to house these materials.
2. Elephants will destroy weak construction. Sheet metal, drywall, or plastic will never last if an elephant encounters it, so concrete construction is essential at each of our borehole projects.

Sturdy, reliable hardware is an expensive but critical step for a sustainable WASH project. Saving money on one step could result in a system failure, leaving the community without water for weeks at a time. It’s better to invest upfront to ensure the water stays on.

Elephants Make Us Stronger

Most of the time, human-elephant conflict is viewed negatively. But we believe that these animals deserve our respect. It’s up to us to figure out how to prevent elephants from destroying our projects, and maybe even have enough water in the tank to give them a drink if they mosey by our projects one day.

The great power of these animals has required us to build projects and water systems that last. 82% of our projects are still online, compared to the global average of about 35%. We can credit some of that success to the stoic, ingenious masters of this environment. Elephants are animals we can respect and learn from, if we allow them to teach us.

It’s because of elephants that humans had roads to spread across the earth. It’s because of elephants that Water is Life Kenya has learned to build projects that last. And it’s because of elephants that we have learned the value of protecting endangered animals and the beautiful world they live in.

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